أَفَأَمِنُوا۟ مَكْرَ ٱللَّهِ ۚ فَلَا يَأْمَنُ مَكْرَ ٱللَّهِ إِلَّا ٱلْقَوْمُ ٱلْخَٰسِرُونَ
Commentary:
As stated under 7:98 above, the Quran mentioned the fate of peoples that had opposed the Prophets of God in times gone by in order to warn opponents of the Holy Prophet that they also could not expect to escape a similar fate if they persisted in their opposition. The Prophets who have been mentioned in the preceding verses lived either in Arabia itself or in the neighbouring countries and stories of the fate that befell their opponents were still current among the contemporaries of the Holy Prophet.
The home of the ‘Adites was in Yemen, but their conquests extended over the whole of Arabia. Arab tradition represents them as conquerors of the whole world—of Persia, India and China, but history furnishes no proof of this claim.
The territory of the tribe of Thamud lay between Medina and Syria. The Holy Prophet passed through the ruins of their dwelling places during his expedition to Tabuk. The tribe of Thamud were worshippers of idols, among them being the Lat and the ‘Uzza.
The Midianites also lived in the north of Arabia near the coast of the Red Sea. The history of all these peoples was current among the Arabs who were well-informed of their power, designs and machinations as well as of their subsequent destruction as a result of the opposition offered by them to their Prophets. The reference in the verse to the people that perish is, therefore, straight and pointed.